After protests, China relaxes 3-mth Covid curbs in Xinjiang

Residents Of Low-Risk Areas To Move Freely In Neighbourhoods

Authorities in China's western Xinjiang region opened up some neighbourhoods in the capital of Urumqi on Saturday after residents held extraordinary late-night demonstrations against the city's draconian "zero-Covid" lockdown that had lasted more than three months.

The displays of public defiance were fanned by anger over a fire in an apartment compound that had killed 10, according to the official death toll, as emergency workers took three hours to extinguish the blaze a delay many attributed to obstacles caused by anti-virus measures. The demonstrations, as well as public anger online, are the latest signs of building frustration with China's intense approach to controlling Covid-19. It's the only major country in the world that still is fighting the pandemic through mass testing and lockdowns.